Sliding door



'W. H. PARKER AND G. L. SMYTH.

SLIDING DOOR.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 28. 1919.

1,394,216, Patented Oct. 18, 1921.

lnren/ors 077/621 1'?- Parker Geo/ye L. SmyIZ UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM H. PARKER AND GEORGE L. SMYTH, OF MONTREAL, QUEBEC, CANADA.

SLIDING noon.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 18, 1921.

Application filed April 28, 1919. Serial No. 293,164.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, WILLIAM H. PARKER and Gnonon L. SMYTH, both subjects of the King of Great Britain, and both residents of the city of Montreal, in the Province of Quebec and Dominion of Canada, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sliding Doors, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to improvements in sliding door construction and the object is to provide a door which will slide smoothly and easily at all times.

A further object is to provide a door so constructed that it will be impossible for it to escape from its proper path, as frequently occurs with existing sliding doors.

A still further object is to provide a door which willslide easily and freely, but will at the same time be substantially weather tight. I

Another object is to provide a door suitable for all cases in which sliding doors are used.

At the present time, the so called sliding doors are almost entirely suspended from a track by running wheels secured to the top of the door. The bottom of the door must be free from the floor and the door must have guiding means at the bottom to keep it from swaying. In houses or other buildings, such construction necessitates the provision of very considerable recesses above the door for the reception of the track and running wheels and, if the wheels jump the track, it is an extremely difficult matter to get them back on the track.

According to the present invention, no recesses are necessary in the wall above the door when used in a house. The door runs between upper and lower tracks which engage grooves in the door edges, so that'the door is held against swaying and against jumping olf either track. The interengagement of the door groove and track makes the door weather-tight. Running wheels are carried by the door at top and bottom to reduce friction between the door and tracks.

In the drawings which illustrate the invention:-

d Figure 1 is a partial side elevation of a oor.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of one of the running wheels.

. s 3 i a Satire 0 t e Ht s- Referring more particularly to the drawings, 11 designates a door of any type which is provided adjacent the four corners with housings 12 each containing a running wheel 13. These wheels are adapted to cooperate with tracks 14 located above and below the door. It will be understood that while running wheels are shown only at the four corners of the door that as many additional housings and running wheels may be provided in the upper and lower edges of the door as are required. It will also be understood that while only a single running wheel. has been shown in each housing two or more such wheels may be provided in each housing if desired.

In the form of the invention illustrated, the housing isformed partly by the door, which is recessed at 15 to receive the running wheel 13, and partly by a pair of plates 16 located one on each side of the door and closing the sides of the recess 15. These plates may be set into recesses 17 in the door so as to be flush with the surface thereof, as shown, or may be applied to the door without the provision of the recesses 17. The plates may be secured to the door or to one another by screws or bolts 18. The running wheel 13 may be secured between the plates of each pair in any suitable manner such as by a pin 19 passing through the running wheel-and plates. If the pinis screwed into the plates, as shown in Fig. 3, it will be advisable to provide a sleeve 20 around the pin, upon which the wheel may revolve and which may be irrevolubly clamped between the plates by the pin 19, sothat revolution of the wheel will not loosen the screwed-in pin. It will be understood that the running wheel may be supported in any other manner found desirable. It will also be understood that, if desired, the plates 16 may be mortised into the material of the door so as to be completely concealed thereby.

The tracks, between which the door runs, are each formed of a strip of metal rolled to approximately the cross section shown in Fig. 3 and having a large central rib 21 forming the rail head and flanked on each side by smaller ribs 22 separated from the center rib 21 by grooves 23. The extreme edges of the track may be in the form of outwardly projecting flanges 24: adapted for securing the rails in place by any suitable means. ,It wi lbe understood that the tracks may if desired be rolled or cast solid instead of the hollow construction shown, providing the arrangement of ribs isretained. The upper and lower edges of the door are each provided with a groove 25 adapted to receive the center rib 21 of a rail and the running wheels arelocated to support the door, so that there is just a nice running clearance between the groove and the center rib 21 of the rail and also between the ungrooved edge portion of the door and the ribs 22, as clearly shown in Fig. 3.

The features of operation of the door are the same regardless of the use to which the door is put. The door is supported at both top and bottom edges by the deeply grooved running wheels engaging the track ribs 21, and is thereby positively held against swaying, such as occurs with the ordinary sliding door which is supported only from the top. The door is supported from below, which is thelogical point of support. The provision of the second-rail above the door positively prevents it running ofi its supporting rail, as frequently happens with doors supported from above. This is especially true of freight car doors, where the opening and closing force is applied very close to the lower edge of the door, so that the tendency is to lift one of the running wheels at the top of the doorofi' the track. The provision of grooves in the door edges to receive the rails makes the door weather proof when used as an outside door and also substan tially draft-proof whenused as an inside door.

We claim- 1 1 1. In a device of the class described, a door grooved at its upper and lower edges, rails above and below the door each having a central rib entering the door groove, and

smaller ribs on each side of the central rib.

2. In a device of the class described, a door recessed in its upper and lower edges adjacent to the corners to form pockets, grooved running wheels revolubly mounted in said pockets, grooves in the upper and lower edges of the door in alinement with the wheel grooves, said door grooves being slightly wider and deeper than the wheel grooves, and rails located above and below the door engaging in the wheel and door grooves and held from contact with the door grooves by the wheels.

3. An arrangement according to claim 2, in which each pocket is provided with removable sidewalls.

4. A door having its upper and lower edges provided each with a centrallongitudinally extending groove and a pair of upper and lower track plates having each a central rib adapted to project into the groove in the adjacent edge of the door and side rib-s of less height than the central rib adapted to project into close proximity with the ungrooved portion of the door edge, and grooved running wheels carried by the door for engagementwith said central ribs, said wheels being arranged with the grooves thereof allned with the'door grooves.

5. An arrangement accordingto claim 1,

in which guiding and supporting rollers V are located in the door groove to travel on the central ribs of'the rails. i

6. An arrangement according to claim 2. in which each pocket is provided with removable side walls supporting and detach ably connected with the wheel located within the pocket. V y

In witness whereof, we have hereunto set our hands. 1

WILLIAM H. PARKER. GEORGE L. SMYTH. 

